Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Bill Introduced Into Congress

March 16, 20184:46 pm

The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Bill was just introduced into Congress by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bob Corker (R-TN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The bill implements the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, a landmark treaty that was adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in June 2013, and has since been ratified by 37 other countries. The treaty is notable in that it is the first WIPO treaty passed primarily for a disadvantaged class of users, rather than for the benefit of copyright holders.

When passed, the bill will allow those who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise reading disabled to make free use of written works in accessible formats such as braille, large print, or audiobook. Although similar provisions were already part of U.S. law, the amendments made by this bill slightly broadens the class of beneficiaries who were eligible for access to such works.

Even more significantly, the implementation bill will ensure that it is legal for accessible works to be sent between the U.S. and other countries that are signatories to the Marrakesh Treaty. There are many blind, visually impaired, and print disabled users in countries that do not have the capacity to produce their own accessible works, reflected in the fact that such users in poor countries have access to only 1% of published books in accessible formats, compared with 7% in rich countries. Allowing eligible users throughout the world access to works that have been created in any other Marrakesh signatory countries is a compassionate and sensible solution.

About Nelson Régo

Nelson Régo is the owner and founder of the Cool Blind Tech website since November of 2012. Nelson launched the first show on March 14, 2013. He also directs the website as a whole, hiring staff, originating new shows, and approving all content.

Brandon Cross demonstrates the Vocalizer voices for Android in this edition of Cool Blind Tech. He shows off the performance of the Ava US English voice by moving through the home screen. Then, he demonstrates the voice by typing in an edit box on the Google Play store, opens the page for the Vocalizer app and allows the voice to read a short excerpt from the page. Brandon then arranges a display of various samples in the Vocalizer app.